A bad hire costs, on average, 1.5 to 2 times the annual salary.
Most people know this. And yet it keeps happening – over and over again.
Jag har jobbat med recruitment i över 25 år. Den vanligaste orsaken till en misslyckad rekrytering är inte att kandidaten ljög på sitt CV. Det är att processen var för snabb, för magkänslostyrd – eller att man inte visste tillräckligt tydligt vad man sökte innan den startade.
Three mistakes I see repeatedly.
- Hiring for experience – not for potential and behavior. An impressive background guarantees nothing. What determines whether someone succeeds in your organization is how they function in your specific context. Culture, pace, leadership style, expectations. None of that shows up on a CV.
- Rushing the process. The position is vacant, the hiring manager is frustrated, and you go with whoever feels best among the three candidates you managed to meet. The pool was too narrow and gut feeling too unreliable as a sole basis for a decision.
- Skipping structured assessment. An interview is just a conversation if you do not know what you are looking for. Competency-based interviews, relevant personality tools, and clear evaluation criteria are not unnecessary complexity – they are quality assurance.
Bringing in outside help for a recruitment process is not a sign of weakness. It is a sign that you are taking the decision seriously.
If you have thoughts, questions, or simply want to talk something through – feel free to get in touch.
Magdalena Hagström Ståhl
By M Consulting AB
Right person. Right place. Everything changes.